Vanessa Huff

Current and Past Classes:

Vanessa approaches education in a unique way – focusing on the community and relationships within her classroom first, then providing content through short and impressionistic lessons where the true learning will be followed by the discoveries the children make themselves! After nine years of teaching, that has proven to be most effective method to foster the love of learning.

She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Organizational Communication from the University of Central Florida and began her career working in Media Relations for UCF and the Florida Citrus Bowl. She later went on to become Promotions and Marketing Manager for Radio Disney / ABC Networks. After helping to implement a school program for Radio Disney that was incorporated nationwide, she realized the growing passion she had in seeing children engage in learning using fun and creative methods. She began her teaching career less than a year later!

After two years of teaching in the traditional public school system, Vanessa became a Montessori certified teacher in Lower Elementary I, (6-9 years of age). She passionately taught Montessori in both public and private sectors for the next seven years, attending national Montessori conferences to continue her learning. She enjoyed the Cosmic Education part of the curriculum most of all which incorporates History, Geography, Zoology and Botany into the classroom. She recognizes her Montessori training to be one of the most life-changing aspects of her career, realizing that education had to be child-centered.

Vanessa has completed several courses in Conscious Discipline – a program that focuses on the emotional well-being of the student - including their summer-intensive, week-long program, CD1. As a dedicated yogi herself, she also became trained and certified to teach Kidding Around Yoga classes, which brings mindfulness practices to the child in an engaging format, with integral yoga principles as a foundation. She served as an Odyssey of the Mind coach for two years, which is a worldwide problem-solving and creative thinking competition. This provided strategies and tools to help students think “outside the box” and put their ideas into action.

Vanessa has two children of her own. Olivia is ten years of age and Gavin is seven. They enjoy stand-up paddleboarding and kayaking, attending local festivals, reading and playing with their cat, Zen. Vanessa is currently working on completing her first children’s book as well and obtaining her license to be a massage therapist. She’s excited to join the R School family and bring her knowledge and experiences to this amazing school family!

R School is a Florida not-for-profit providing independent-minded, community-spirited educational alternatives for children in grades K-8. R School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and other programs.